


waltz of the sky bison

by nasalesbians



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Childhood Friends to Lovers, F/F, Post-Canon, Sort Of, and also a dance lesson, god these tags are a mess, just some feelings, my fic my rules and i say azula redemption, this is not actually a footloose au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasalesbians/pseuds/nasalesbians
Summary: "Ty Lee hadn’t planned on coming back to Ember Island, ever. The summers she and Azula spent here as spoiled kids are part of a past she never wants to return to; Kyoshi Island is more of a haven to her than this place has ever been, and the Kyoshi Warriors are more of a family to her than her sisters back in the Fire Nation. And while she doesn’t regret burning down Chan’s house that one time or all the careless hours she spent playing volleyball with Azula, she can’t ever go back to being the kid who did those things."Or, Ty Lee and Azula finally get a chance to see each other, years after the war's end.
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	waltz of the sky bison

**Author's Note:**

> welcome tyzula nation! this fic is for days 2 & 3 of tyzula week, body language and ember island respectively (even though it's insanely late lmao). i decided it would be fun to try and merge the two prompts and this is what i got! it's not the best thing i've ever written, but i still like it. hope you enjoy!

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Ty Lee whirls around, startled by the sudden voice at her back. Her eyes are still dazzled from watching the light’s reflection dance on the water and take a moment to adjust, but it’s only Azula standing behind her, statuesque and painted golden in the sun’s fading light. Although Azula is smiling, her face is utterly unreadable. She’s surprised to see Azula out here in the first place; when Ty Lee had mentioned going for an after-dinner walk by the ocean, Azula had politely declined her invitation.

She’s still glad when Azula pads over to stand beside her, dipping her toes in the waves.

Ty Lee hadn’t planned on coming back to Ember Island, ever. The summers she and Azula spent here as spoiled kids are part of a past she never wants to return to; Kyoshi Island is more of a haven to her than this place has ever been, and the Kyoshi Warriors are more of a family to her than her sisters back in the Fire Nation. And while she doesn’t regret burning down Chan’s house that one time or all the careless hours she spent playing volleyball with Azula, she can’t ever go back to being the kid who did those things.

She’s roused from her thoughts by a cold touch on her leg. Looking down, she sees Azula’s foot, covered in wet sand, resting against her shin. Azula’s face is still blank, but there’s a pronounced effort in her expression now, like she’s holding back a grin. Ty Lee’s own playful smile breaks out over her face, wide and bright. In the past, she had always been the one to initiate physical contact, and she’s delighted with this change in Azula. “What?” she demands.

“Nothing,” says Azula, removing her foot. Ty Lee finds she misses the contact, however cold and sandy it was. “It’s not like you to be so silent and serious.”

“Well, maybe I’ve changed,” she banters back, surprised to feel how much she means it. Azula doesn’t respond, only nods, but she shifts her foot over so that her leg is pressed against Ty Lee’s. Her skin feels cool from the salt spray, and Ty Lee shivers lightly.

They stand like that, touching but only just, until the constellations wink fully into existence overhead. “Beautiful,” whispers Azula, and it’s more a breath than a word. Ty Lee, head tilted back and utterly entranced by the stars, can only hum a soft response.

When she finally lowers her head, eyes still dazzled by the sky’s brilliance, and glances at Azula, she finds Azula looking back at her.

* * *

The market on Ember Island isn’t very big, barely the size of two training arenas put together, but it’s rich in colors and smells and sounds, as though trying to make up for its smallness. Vendors hawk their wares from either side of the street, advertising exorbitantly priced trinkets that only a Fire Nation noble would be willing or even able to buy. Azula, for her part, keeps her gaze firmly ahead as she strides confidently through the maze. It’s all Ty Lee, hand caught in Azula’s grasp, can do to keep up with her quick pace; Azula has gained several inches on her in the years since the war ended.

So far Ty Lee has had no luck in getting Azula to tell her where they’re going, but she figures it can’t hurt to ask one last time. Instead of brushing her questions off, however, Azula stops short and gestures to a wide, low building. It’s plain russet-brown brick, only set apart from its surroundings by an elegantly painted sign announcing it as a dance school.

She looks at Azula quizzically. “I didn’t know there was a dance school here.”

Azula scoffs, but it’s laced with a laugh. “You can find all sorts of crazy shit on this island if you know where to look. Let’s go in.”

Schools established specifically for teaching dance are a still relatively new concept in the Fire Nation, introduced about five years after the war’s end by Avatar Aang himself. It turned out to be beneficial in more ways than one—during those times of stress and upheaval, an enjoyable physical outlet like dancing was perfect. The schools, though small at the time, also allowed people to reconnect with their neighbors and rebuild a sense of community and mutual understanding that had been sorely lacking in the Fire Nation. The practice and performance of formal and folk dances spread across the country, which Ty Lee knows pleased Aang; he told her so when he came to Kyoshi Island to found a school there in person.

But the school on Kyoshi Island pales in comparison to the lavishness of Ember Island’s.

The inside is beautiful: ceilings painted with elaborate murals to give the illusion of space, gilt designs on the walls where she is used to plain wood. While Ty Lee takes a moment to absorb her surroundings, Azula strides over to a tall, thin man behind a desk and speaks to him in a low undertone. He nods several times, listening to her attentively, before gesturing to a hallway on the right, leading deeper into the building.

Satisfied, Azula turns toward the direction he pointed out, then looks back. “Ty Lee!” she calls, beckoning with one hand. A slight grin now turns up the corners of her mouth, and Ty Lee is helpless but to follow her.

After a short trek through the decorated halls Azula brings them to a halt in front of a small set of double doors. Curling flames and delicate leaves are carved skillfully into the polished wood. Azula holds the door open for Ty Lee to enter the dance studio first, something she never would have done ten years ago, Ty Lee notes.

She finds herself inside a kaleidoscope; a dizzying array of mirrors covers the walls and, to her amazement, the ceiling. Infinite clones of herself stretch out on all sides, turning as she turns, looking back at her with her own wide brown eyes. She tips her head back in wonder to gaze at the ceiling, then watches through the mirrors as Azula steps closer, and yet again closer, until she’s standing directly in front of Ty Lee. They face each other, and Ty Lee asks, her voice barely above a whisper, “What are we doing here, Azula?”

Azula’s voice is equally low when she responds, “Do you remember that summer when we swam with the narwhal-sharks?” Ty Lee nods. “You said that dancing looked fun, especially that partner stuff Katara did with the Avatar, but you never had time to learn with all your Kyoshi Warrior—” She makes a gesture with her hand, indicating Ty Lee’s training and various duties she had to attend to back home. Ty Lee follows the hand with her eyes, then returns her gaze to Azula’s face. “And now we have the time.”

Before Ty Lee can properly process this, the double doors swing open again, admitting a short yet stately woman whose heels clack resoundingly against the polished floor, followed by a trio of people carrying instruments, whom Ty Lee supposes will be their accompaniment. The woman in front bows gracefully and introduces herself as Madame Ji, their dance master for the evening. Ty Lee resists the urge to pinch herself, but just barely. She’s actually going to take dance lessons with Azula.

Madame Ji leads them through a number of simple exercises designed to familiarize them with the movements and rhythms of the style, which she calls the sky bison’s waltz. The name, she explains, comes from the lightness of the dancers’ steps and the airiness of their upper body movements, as well as the magnificent jumps and lifts that more experienced dancers might perform.

It’s difficult to get the timing right, and they both trip over their feet more than once. Azula knocks Ty Lee’s head with her elbow; just a few moments later Ty Lee loses her footing and whacks Azula’s chest in a desperate bid for balance. Ty Lee is _never_ off-balance, ever. She blushes and begins a flustered apology, but Azula simply brushes it away with a spin that lands Ty Lee squarely against her chest, this time safely ensconced in Azula’s arms. The heat of her body feels nice on Ty Lee’s back, and she can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment when Madame Ji’s instructions force her to twirl away from Azula’s grasp.

Once their hour is up, they thank Madame Ji for her tutelage and applaud in respect as she leaves the room, followed once again by the trio of musicians. As soon as the door closes, leaving them alone with their endless reflections, Ty Lee’s hand gravitates toward Azula’s, as if of its own accord. Slowly, Azula’s hand wraps around hers. With a gentle tug, they’re facing each other, hands clasped and hanging loosely between them.

“Thank you,” Ty Lee begins, “for the lesson. It was…”

Her head is light as an airborne sky bison, though her thoughts are whirling like a hurricane, and she feels a little dazzled when she brings her eyes up to meet Azula’s. Unable to finish her sentence, Ty Lee lowers her eyes to stare level at Azula’s chin instead. She’s distinctly aware of her breathing, its heaviness and uneven cant. Before she can attempt another sentence there’s a soft touch on the underside of her chin, like the brush of a butterfly’s wing. Gently, Azula tips Ty Lee’s chin back up until they’re staring eye to eye, and Ty Lee has seen Azula firebend so many times as a child, those dancing blue flames hot enough to boil metal, and it’s _nothing_ compared to how she burns now.

All at once she sees herself teetering on a precipice. She and Azula have been friends since they were kids, bitter foes at the end of the war, and simply, painfully distant in the years afterward. It would be so easy to leave, once Azula’s planned vacation is over, return to Kyoshi Island, and sequester herself away among her fellow warriors, throwing herself tirelessly into her responsibilities. She would think about Azula periodically, she knows, reminiscing on their childhood spent together, wondering how she’s doing and where she is, considering the endless parade of what-ifs and maybes. Her timing has never been right when it comes to Azula.

But now she burns, and she teeters, and she decides. Ty Lee decides that she wants to try, wants to reconnect with her old best friend and spark something new. Amid endless reflections of herself, she stares at the woman in front of her, whose fingers are still on her chin, and she blurts out, “I think I love you.”

_Fuck._

And Azula laughs. She laughs, and her eyes are no longer fiery and intense but soft and delighted. There’s no trace of scorn in her voice, only mirth, and Ty Lee can’t help but to giggle along. But she sobers after a moment, looking to Azula, now similarly quiet.

“Ty Lee,” says Azula, and it sounds like she’s close to tears, though her eyes are clear and dry. “My oldest friend. I—” She stops, suddenly hesitant, eyes searching Ty Lee’s.

Ty Lee doesn’t know exactly what Azula wants to say, but she understands the look in her eyes, the tone of her voice, the way Azula’s fingers twitch at her sides, and she throws her arms around Azula.

Immediately she feels warm hands come to rest on her back, fingers pressing on either side of her spine, and Azula’s cheek comes to rest against the crown of her head. They’ll talk about this later—they have to, with so much left unsaid in the years between—but for now it’s enough for them to just stand, embracing. It’s enough when Ty Lee draws back just enough to look Azula in the eye and asks, “Can I kiss you?” And it’s _more_ than enough when Azula whispers her consent, then leans in. Ty Lee meets her halfway and their lips connect, gently and a little clumsily, like moths fluttering and fumbling their way around a campfire.

When they finally part, Ty Lee’s hands rest in Azula’s hair and Azula’s hands cradle her upper back, supporting her even as she bends Ty Lee into a low dip that Madame Ji would be proud of. Breathless, Ty Lee stares up at Azula, and something in her chest releases like a boulder dropping from a cliff. She’s happy, she realizes, so happy she could burst and become nothing but a radiant cloud of pure joy, drifting on the wind. But she’s not going to let go of Azula that easily.

* * *

Later that evening they sit together on the shore, hand in hand, and watch the moon rise. Ty Lee catches Azula staring at her instead of watching the sky, her dark eyes gleaming in the silvery light.

And Ty Lee looks back.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm basing the idea that some form of the concept of ballroom and/or partner dancing exists in the avatar universe solely on aang and katara's (absolutely breathtaking) cave dance in book 3. i've wanted to write about dance for a while, since i used to dance a lot when i was younger, and tyzula week was the perfect opportunity! anyway, canon is my sandbox and i am a feral child with a little toy dump truck.
> 
> find me on twitter @/feraltylee and tumblr @/dykemedusa


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